Parent reform

Keith MagillExecutive Editor

Saturday

Apr 28, 2012 at 7:53 PM

A local lawmaker's alternatives to Gov. Bobby Jindal's education-reform measures failed last week, but the debate was worthwhile.

A local lawmaker's alternatives to Gov. Bobby Jindal's education-reform measures failed last week, but the debate was worthwhile.State Rep. Joe Harrison's proposal to grade parents is the one I found most interesting. Under his bill, rejected by the House Education Committee, teachers would have been required to keep records that answered these questions:-- Is homework being completed and reviewed by parents?-- Are essential school materials such as paper and pencils being provided?-- Are parents taking responsibility for the child following rules of discipline?-- Are parents taking responsibility for their children following school dress codes?-- Are they attending parent-teacher meetings?“We need to have parents become part of the solution and not be part of the problem,” Harrison, R-Napoleonville, told the committee. Teachers could use the information to show parents how their actions impact their children's progress, he said. And the records would help teachers explain student performance when they have to undergo the evaluations called for in Jindal's reform laws.Rep. Nancy Landry, R-Lafayette, argued that the bill could have unintended consequences. “I don't want to give people a chance to label a child as unteachable,” she said. “They can't help who they are. They can't help the families they're born into. That's not fair.”I agree with Landry.The arguments are central to the ongoing education-reform debate. As the session began, I wrote in support of Jindal's key measures, which expand school vouchers, end automatic tenure and tie teachers' pay to merit and student performance.Teachers claim the reforms target them unfairly as scapegoats for a public-education system that for generations has ranked among the nation's worst. Parents, they claim, should bear just as much — if not, more — responsibility.I agree, but I believe that ought to happen in addition to — not instead of — holding teachers, principals, superintendents, school board members and state lawmakers accountable.Harrison's proposal does not explicitly say it, but it implies that teachers whose students lack model parents should be less accountable for what those children do or do not learn.It goes to the core of an attitude I have heard some teachers, school board members, principals and administrators express. It goes something like this: Some students can't be taught, and if they can, their “socioeconomic backgrounds” condemn them to inferior performance. Translated more bluntly: Those students can't learn.So, under Harrison's proposal, would a teacher who keeps meticulous records of parents' lack of involvement be off the hook?I suspect that is already the case for a lot of teachers. Weak teachers, principals, school boards and superintendents often use that “socioeconomic” rigmarole to justify poor performance not just from students but, often unwittingly, from themselves.If they are the professionals they demand to be perceived as, teachers will not use such excuses to write off students who might otherwise succeed. Strong teachers understand and, however begrudgingly, accept that many students will never be lucky enough to have model parents.Professionals — through training, creativity, hard work, caring, determination or whatever means necessary — find a way to overcome their students' bad parenting. They are the teachers you hear former students credit for their success years later.Does that absolve parents of their responsibility?Absolutely not.For weeks, I've talked with readers, teachers and others in person, by email and on our newspapers' Facebook pages in search of meaningful ways parents might be held accountable. I have shared some of their ideas with you, but few, if any, have teeth in them. What penalty, for instance, should a parent pay if he or she fails to help a child learn? Fines? Jail? Community service?My search for answers led me to a group called the National Coalition for Accountable Parenting. Its founder and president, Catherine Durkin Robinson, offers a wealth of information and suggestions for parents, teachers, school officials and lawmakers at www.myncap.org.In a letter, Robinson, a former teacher and the mother of three, says she put her crusade on hold last year after taking a new job. But her ideas deserve consideration. Her approach, in gist, would penalize bad parents and reward those who work to help their children succeed in school. Among her suggestions:-- Report cards should show whether parents went to open houses or teacher conferences or volunteered at school. Those who do could use the report cards to qualify their children for college scholarships or other benefits.-- To qualify for child tax credits, now automatic for most, parents must show their children are in school, earning passing grades, displaying acceptable conduct and graduating on time. Parents who fail that “test” would be denied tax credits.-- Parents whose children are incarcerated before age 18 would be required to pay for their children's room and board, perform community service and attend parenting classes.Robinson and her organization have a lot of other ideas, and I'll explore them later. Anybody who understands what education means not just to children — but to our community, state and nation — would benefit from doing the same.

Courier and Daily Comet Executive Editor Keith Magill can be reached at 857-2201 or keith.magill@houmatoday.com.

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